


Everything Sucks!

by floridian_trash



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Rescue Bots, Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy (Cartoon)
Genre: "honey you've got a big storm coming" @ cody and frankie, F/F, F/M, M/M, beware of gen z humor, high school drama has entered the chat, ocs are just very minor background characters so don't mind them, this was a crazy idea sparked in my mind from being so stressed out from school
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-01-25 22:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21363985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floridian_trash/pseuds/floridian_trash
Summary: Cody and Frankie are tired of everyone trying to get them to date, so they come up with a plan to please everyone while chasing after who they actually want to date.
Relationships: Cody Burns & Francine Greene, Cody Burns/Wes, Francine Greene/Priscilla Pynch
Comments: 53
Kudos: 59





	1. The Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frankie: "What if we... fake dated to get everyone off our backs? Haha just kidding... unless?"

“Frankie wha-” Cody didn’t have the chance to finish his sentence before Frankie grabbed him by the arm and dragged him up to her room. 

“I have an amazing idea!” She exclaimed as she kicked her bedroom door closed. Cody winced a bit with the loud slam the door made, she did have a baby sister in the next room sleeping. 

“Is it another science project? Because I swear you’re becoming more and more like your dad.”

“No, and shut up, this is better than any of the science projects I’ve thought up.” She dropped her backpack off her shoulders - he was amazed by how soundly CeCe was sleeping through all of this- and paused in front of the blond who sat on the edge of her bed. “This will be good for the both of us, I guarantee it.” 

The boy was about to ask why before Frankie spoke up once again. “You know how everyone wants us to start dating but won’t say it out loud?”

“Like how they’ll hint at it and give us date ideas to ask each other out on?”

“Exactly! I’ve figured out a way to get it to stop- we start dating.” 

Frankie paused for dramatic effect, letting the idea sink into Cody. However it didn’t sink in- it crashed down on him. She stood in front of him as confident and ecstatic as ever, as if though she didn’t say what she just said, meanwhile he sat dumbfounded and red in the face. It honestly felt as though he got sucker punched and had the wind knocked out of him. 

It took awhile for the junior rescue volunteer to process what his best friend just said. “B-but Frankie, I thought we didn’t want to date each other. Aren’t you a-”

“Yep! Let me explain.” She landed next to him, bouncing a bit on the mattress before looking her best friend in the eyes. “We say that we’re dating but don’t actually date for realsies. It’d just be a front so people will leave us alone.” 

“Wouldn’t we be lying though?” Uh oh, Cody’s moral compass was kicking in. He hated the idea of lying, especially to his and Frankie’s family, who were unironically the ones who pushed for them to become a couple the most. He also didn’t like keeping secrets from them; he’s been lucky enough to have very few things to be private about as he shares a lot with his family. They know practically everything about everyone in his life, ranging from his friends all the way to his teachers and pioneer troop leaders. Of course, he did have a few secrets, but none of them mounted up to something as elaborate as this.

“Come on, Cody. Just think of it as a little fib that will make our lives ten times better. Besides, do you really want Kade and Dani continuing to pressure you into asking me out?” When she received no argument from the boy she continued. “Just think about how easy I’d be to pull of; we already hang out together all the time and everybody knows we’ve been close since like kindergarten, so us suddenly getting together won’t be suspicious or weird. All we need to do is make up a getting-together story, kiss maybe like once or twice in front of people, and hold each other’s hands every now and then. I mean, we’re doing it right now.” 

Cody looked down to find, indeed, they were holding hands. When did they do that?

“Okay,” he gave in with a sigh, “I’ll do it. But what about our actual love lives? We both have crushes, and us being together will just make it harder.” 

Frankie shrugged, “We can just explain it to them.” It was crazy how casual she was with all of this. Cody’s mind was racing wildly about the obstacles they’d have to get through and the lies they’d have to pull in order to make this work. Not to mention how many people they’d be lying to; their families, their classmates, his teen pioneer troop - the whole island would know of their relationship, even Mrs. Neederlander. He wouldn’t even be surprised they ended up on the news because of Prescott. They weren’t safe from anybody.

But knowing Frankie she probably spent all day, or even longer, planning all of this out. He trusts her on this, he can always trust her, but he was still a little hesitant on it all blowing up in their faces like one of Doc Greene’s experiments. 

“So,” Cody broke the silence, “How do we spread the word?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This is my first fanfic I'm publishing on here! I have other fanfic ideas lined up but I wanted to get this one out first. This chapter was a bit of a oneshot but I will flesh out the later chapters more. Please tell me what you think, thanks!


	2. I.S.I.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frankie isn't one to let an opportunity pass her, especially if that opportunity is the Griffin Rock version of the Plastics from Mean Girls.

The hallways of Griffin Rock High filled as students slowly trickled in the early hours of the morning. It was before classes began and students spent this cherished time going to their lockers, socializing with friends, and quickly doing homework that was due in their first periods. Cody walked with Frankie to her locker, updating her on the bots. Talking about another one of Chase’s kitchen disasters that Heatwave had to put out was actually calming the anxiety in the pit of his stomach. Since their weekend meeting, all that’s been running through the blond’s mind was their scheme, and now that it was Monday, it was finally time to put it into action.

Frankie seemed to know this as well as she switched the conversation. “So,” she spoke as she automatically flipped her lock towards her combination numbers, “today’s the day we announce we’re a couple. You ready?” 

“No, I’m still kind of nervous…”

The girl slipped a binder out of her backpack. “Come on Cody, you’re never nervous. With the types of rescues you’ve been a part of, you’re really scared of kissing me?” 

The boy’s cheeks warmed up as he turned his eyes away from the other. “N-No! It’s just… this whole plan is so complicated and big. I’m just worried that it will, I don’t know, make a huge mess?” Cody held some of Frankie’s books while she sorted her classes out. “Besides, kissing you is going to be a little weird.” 

“Yeah it might be, but just think of it as practice for kissing-” 

“Don’t!”

The younger one laughed as the older turned red. “You’re so much fun to mess with.” She took the remaining books from Cody before slamming her locker door closed. Has she always been slamming things closed? 

“Why do we even need to kiss in the hallway anyways? What good will that do?” Cody changed the conversation in hopes to get his face to cool down.

“It’s to invoke informational social influence.” When the blond tilted his head like a confused puppy she continued. “It’s influence based off of one’s willingness to accept another’s opinion of reality. If one person sees us kiss and tells others, there will be at least one person who will believe it. And that person will go on to tell others, and it continues from then on. It’s an easy way for us to spread news about us dating without explicitly telling anybody.” 

“So, gossip?” Cody questioned.

“The AP Psych version of it.” 

“I think this is the most you’ve ever applied what you’ve learned in a non science or math class.” It was now Cody’s turn to laugh as Frankie shot him a look. She’d put her hands on her hips if she wasn’t carrying two textbooks. 

Frankie rolled her eyes before taking a sweep of the hallway. There were a few kids at their lockers, some in small groups chatting, and others sitting near teachers doors studying on their phones. She spotted a particular group of girls walking down the hallway and recognized one immediately. Brittney Luwinski, a sophomore on the cheerleading team. Priscilla has told her all about the 10th grader, mainly because Brittney wanted to be cheer captain but the coach choose Priscilla instead, making the two bitter enemies since then. In all honesty Brittney looked like the perfect cheerleader; curly blonde hair, blue eyes with long lashes, tanned skin, and a slim figure. But from what Priscilla has shared with Frankie, Brittney doesn’t have the upbeat personality a cheerleader should have, which ironically makes Brittney even more of a perfect cheerleader. 

What was most important about Brittney being there was that she was popular, very popular, and if Frankie could get her to be the one to spread the word, the whole school would know of Frankie and Cody by the end of first period. 

Cody was about to look at what Frankie had been staring at for so long before getting his head turned by his fake girlfriend. “Cody, our opportunity is about to pass us. You have to kiss me, like, very soon. Like, right now.” 

Frankie gave Cody a ‘do not freeze up’ look because she knew that the boy would freeze up. In fact he was already turning cold as his skin paled and eyes grew wide. She could see the group of girls slowly approaching in her peripheral vision, their conversation becoming more and more clearer as they got closer. She could decipher out ‘Shawn Mendes’ and ‘Camila Cabello’ from them. Funny, Frankie thought. 

Suddenly with a random boost of confidence, Cody tilted Frankie’s head up by her chin and kissed her. It was soft, gentle, and sweet. It was quite adorable, Frankie thought. She returned the kiss twice, standing on her tiptoes a bit to make up for their height difference. 

It seemed that they timed their kisses just right, because Frankie could fear feet stop and voices cut off during it. She soon heard them scamper off with hushed whispers and small ‘omg’s. When Frankie pulled away she couldn’t help but smile up at the older boy. Once the chick clique was gone, they soon broke out into laughter with blushing faces. 

“Oh Cody thank you so much!” She dropped her textbooks dangerously close in between both of their feet and hugged him tightly. She soon felt a pair of warm arms envelope her, pulling her closer to the teen pioneer. 

“Anything for you. Except murder of course.” The sharp morning bell announced the end of their hug. The two reluctantly pulled away from each other and Cody picked up the books Frankie had dropped earlier, earning a small thanks. 

“See you in history?” 

“What about lunch?” Questioned the blond.

“I have to meet with Mrs. Smith about my science fair entry before she goes on maternity leave.” 

“Noble.” He nodded. “Well, see you in history.” 

“See ya.” And with that, they parted ways off to first period.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to introduce more characters in this chapter but it was getting pretty long and I've procrastinated on too many assignments to add them in. So that means y'all will be seeing a lot of characters in chapter three :)


	3. The Boyz 🔥🔥🔥

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get crazy in the Teen Pioneer group chat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I know this is silly but I made a tiktok compilation and each tiktok is a representation of each of the boy's personalities in the way I'm depicting them in this fanfic. You can find it here: https://floridian-trash.tumblr.com/post/189159425923/the-teen-pioneers-as-tiktoks-for-my-fanfic 
> 
> Also all the boy's listed are actual characters! You can find their wikis here: https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Lad_Pioneer

You know, Cody thought that he finally understood Orwell. He had read 1984 before; though he was a little confused by the ending, he understood the gist of it. So when Ms. Dubois said that they would begin reading his essays in class, he assumed it would all be the same- totalitarianism is bad. Simple.

But it wasn’t so simple, apparently the man also had something to say about toads. Ms. Dubois had printed out a copy of the essay for everybody to mark up with pens and highlighters and posted their reading questions online. Thus, on every desk was a laptop, an essay, and two highlighters.

As a kid from the back began reading the first paragraph, Cody tried to focus on the words in front of him with a highlighter ready. Emphasis on tried, because it’s hard to stay focus when your phone keeps buzzing in your pocket. Who would be texting him this much, especially at 8 am?

Getting annoyed, he carefully slipped his phone out of his pocket out of Ms. Dubois’ line of sight and hid his phone behind his laptop screen. He unlocked his phone to find over 20 unread messages, all originating from his teen pioneer troop group chat. Curious, he opened the chat.

The Boyz 🔥🔥🔥

**George: Multimedia message**

Cody stared at his screen as his phone loaded whatever it was that George sent to the group chat. Once it finally did, the boy nearly fell out of his seat. He quickly covered his mouth as he grew red as a tomato, trying desperately to not make a scene.

It was a photo of Cody kissing Frankie from this morning.

When did he take that? And why did he? Why would anyone take a photo of two people kissing? He sent it, so he should be the one that took it, right? Then Cody realized that maybe George wasn’t the one who took it. Maybe it was someone from the group of girls that had passed them, or just some random kid who was in the right place at the right time. He had hoped the news of their relationship would spread by word of mouth, not digitally.

The Boyz 🔥🔥🔥

**Corey:** YOOOOOOOOOOO

**Timmy:** whoa is this real???

**Billy:** 😳

**Corey:** FUCKING FINALLY

**George:** our mans really did it

**Corey:** DUUUUUUB

**Kyle:** BRO WHAT i owe jim $20

**Corey:** HA

**Jimmy: **pay up clown

**Kyle:** im not paying squat until cody confirms

**Jimmy:** take your L fam

**George:** you think id waste my time editing a photo of cody and frankie

**George:** so it looks like theyre kissing

**George:** for a bet im not part of

**Kyle:** i just want confirmation 😤

**Kyle:** and you know you would do something like that

**Jimmy:** aight clown

**Jimmy:** cody settle this

**Timmy:** cody???

**Corey:** CODY

**George:** cody respond $20 are at stake here

**Jimmy:** they hate to see ya get rich

**George:** kyle won’t be able to afford this daily monster energy drink if he loses

**Kyle:** stfu george

**Jimmy:** they hate to see ya win

Cody scrolled through the messages sent. He rolled his eyes- of course they made a bet over this. He pressed the text section, his keyboard popping up on his screen. He knew he should reply, should confirm that he was dating Frankie, have Kyle lose 20 dollars and let their little lie spread like wildfire. He scrolled through the messages once more and took notice of how Wes was the only one in the group who hasn’t joined in the silliness. Maybe he just hasn’t checked his phone yet?

The teen pioneer could feel dread creep on the back of his neck. Maybe he did see the photo and chose not to respond. The thought of Wes believing that he was dating Frankie and having a photo to support it made Cody sick. Why wouldn’t Wes respond if he saw it? If he hasn’t then how would he respond? He swallowed harshly in an attempt to subdue his drying throat. He truly did hope all of this would be worth it in the end.

The Boyz 🔥🔥🔥

**Cody:** lol yeah we're dating :)

The text was simple but effective. As he locked his phone and slipped it back in his pocket he could feel his phone began to vibrate uncontrollably. It made him smile a little. Seeing his friends react so dramatically at his relationship was pretty funny.This amusement quickly turned into guilt once Cody realized that he was getting his friends all worked up over a lie. It did hurt to be lying to his closest friends, and the feeling only deepened at the fact that Wes hasn’t responded yet. Either way the ginger would soon know of Cody’s fake relationship and believe for it to be real, and every second that passes without knowing Wes’ thoughts made the blond more and more anxious.

“YO! Deadass?!”

The sudden outburst made the teen pioneer jump in his seat. Maybe it was his nerves that made him flinch, but it did jerk him out of his thoughts. He turned his head along with the rest of the class to see who’d be crazy enough to curse in class.

Their eyes landed on Corey, the crazy redhead who was indeed crazy enough to curse in class. Sometimes Cody liked to think that Kade was like Corey when he was in high school - both ginger football players- but then Corey does something outlandish like this and reminds the blond that no, he’s worse.

“I-i’m sorry Ms. Dubois it’s just… did Orwell really use his love of watching toads have sex as way to say down with capitalism?” Corey stuttered out. If there’s one thing the freckled kid can do, it’s get himself out of a sticky situation he put himself in. If only Billy were like that.

Ms. Dubious blinked. She’s never gotten a reaction like that from a student with this essay before, and to save face, she was going to pretend that he really was reacting to the essay. “Yes Corey he did. And while the metaphor is a bit unorthodox, he does go into it with further detail in the rest of the essay. Why don’t you read the next paragraph for us?”

The ginger nodded and smiled sheepishly. The two teen pioneers locked eyes long enough for Cody to give Corey a look and a chuckle before turning around in his seat. As he read the blond couldn’t help but smile. Maybe this won’t be so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is honestly a mess but these boys are a mess so it works out. I hope the text message format isn't too difficult to understand. I'm probably going to be slowing down on this fanfic mainly because I want to get to the drama and angst and all of that but we're nowhere near any of that and it makes me a little unmotivated not gonna lie. Part of me wants to speed it up and get to those points already, but I also don't want to rush anything. We'll see what happens with my next update.


	4. Parks and Chit Chat

Frankie had never been happier to be out of school. It was only Monday and things were already spiraling out of control. Her plan of spreading the news about her and Cody had ended with a photo of the two kissing all across the school. It earned her some awkward encounters with people who bombarded her with questions about their relationship. Despite this, she managed to survive the day, but she feared how Tuesday could fare. 

Unlike her school day, it was a beautiful outside; the expansive sky was bright blue and held only a few clouds, giving a clear pathway for the sun’s rays to light up and warm the island. Birds chirped from above as bees and butterflies roamed the flower beds below. Squirrels skittered from one tree to the next. Though fall crept around the corner, summer still lingered as though it was June.

Frankie met up with Priscilla in the park afterschool. Though most of their conversations happened over text, they still made the effort to talk in person. It allowed for them to see and hear each other that voice and video call could never compare to. 

“Now coach wants us to do competitive cheer, so once the football season is over we’re gonna start training on that.”    
  


“Is that bad?” Frankie looked to her friend.

“No, but coach thinks we have what it takes to make it to Regionals, which is crazy.”

“Why? And aren’t you super competitive? You should be excited for this.” 

“I would be if we actually had a shot at winning. At least a quarter of the team are freshmen, and only like half of them did cheerleading in middle school, but middle school cheerleading isn’t real cheerleading anyway. There’s no seniors on the team, and everybody else has only been doing cheerleading since they joined freshmen year. We’d be lucky enough to make it to Districts.” 

It always boggled Frankie how pessimistic Priscilla could be about the cheerleading team. She had the dedication expected from a captain, just not the faith. 

“You guys can’t be that bad, you’re just a perfectionist.” 

“You’re one to talk.” 

The curly haired girl giggled. “I just think you’re a little too hard on your team sometimes. Plus, you know practice makes perfect. Why not just have more practices?” 

“That’s what I said, but a certain sophomore had something to say against it.” The raven rolled her eyes to the memory. Of course Brittney Luwinski had a problem with her idea- Brittney Luwinski had a problem with  _ all  _ of her ideas. Less time to work on homework? What homework was she working on? They both knew that she wasn’t going to college, and if she did, it wouldn’t be because of her grades. 

Priscilla huffed and checked her manicure. She scuffed the paint on her right thumb from popping open a pen cap that was stuck in APUSH today. It annoyed her, but not as much as Brittney. 

“Sorry,” she sighed, “cheerleading’s boring to talk about. Let’s talk about more interesting things, like that photo of you this morning.” 

Frankie couldn’t help but laugh, mostly from embarrassment and nervousness. Priscilla was the last person she wanted to talk about her “relationship” with Cody with, her parents not far behind. It was a stupid part of her plan that she didn’t think through, and now it was blowing up in front of her face. She was too much like her father for comfort. 

“I didn’t think someone would take a photo...”

“Frankie, everybody’s been waiting for you two to get together since like 5th grade. It’s like the stars have aligned. Congrats, because you two are now the two most popular couple in school.” 

“I’m sure the classic football captain and cheerleading captain couple could steal our fame.”

The other laughed sharply. “Don’t even, I already have to dance with him for the homecoming pep rally.” 

“Why, does he give you goo goo eyes during practice?”

“I wish it was just that,” the raven sighed, “but I bet Cody is sweeter to you.” 

All Frankie could muster was a small nervous laugh. “It’s really not that different from before I guess, except with hand holding and kissing and stuff. It’s a little weird calling him my boyfriend now, but it fits.” 

Priscilla held a small smile on her face, “That’s cute. I’m happy for you.” 

Frankie swore she could see some sadness behind the rich girl’s smile, but decided against questioning it. It’s believed existence came with a small condensed ball of hope within her, and she didn’t want to crush it with certainty. The chirping of birds rang from above. Looking up, Frankie watched as a few birds flew their way into the treetops, bodies contrasted by the bright blue sky above them.

“So,” she broke the short silence between them, “your parents finally let you drive, huh?” 

“Oh, yeah.” Priscilla dropped her head back down from the sky, “it took a while, mainly because they had been fighting about it for like months.” 

“Your dad didn’t want you driving?”

“Actually it was my mom.” A short laugh came from the raven as she tucked her hair behind her ears. “My dad liked that I wanted to drive, he wants me to be more independent like that. My mom didn’t, though, she wants me to be chauffeured places and doesn’t see a reason for me to be driving myself. I don’t think she knows that I drive.” 

“Then how’d you get a car?” Frankie questioned.

“While on one of his business trips my dad met Elon Musk and when he came back he bought me a Tesla.” 

The two teens laughed at Mr. Pynch’s antics. A squirrel scurried across the grass up a tree with a nut held in between its teeth. Only the songs of the birds and wind filled the soft silence between them. Now it wasn’t from tension or awkwardness, but peace and comfort.

“Want to have a sleepover?” 

Frankie jolted from Priscilla’s voice suddenly cutting the silence between them. She turned to the other and blinked, twice. 

“Huh?”

“A sleepover,” she reiterated, “at my house, on Friday. Though I understand if you don’t want to or if you’re busy with your sister or have plans with Cody.” 

Frankie watched as the other absentmindedly fiddled with the dent in her manicure to prepare for rejection and disappointment.

“I’d love to have a sleepover.” 

“Really?” Priscilla looked back up to her. 

“Yeah, I can always get out of babysitting duty for a night, and Cody has a camping trip with his teen pioneer troop this weekend anyways. I’m basically free.” 

A memory came back to Priscilla of earlier today. She remembered picking up the word “tent buddies” from Cody and Wes in APUSH but couldn’t understand it without the needed context. 

One of Priscila’s genuine smiles came through and fed the ball of hope in Frankie. She had always liked the rich girl’s smiles, and though it was a shame how rare they appeared, they had a beauty and charm to them that always made her heart skip. 

A small beep came from Frankie’s pocket. She pulled her phone out to see a notification that their roomba can't find its home base.

She sighed, "CeCe's playing with the roomba again. I have to go home." 

The raven faltered. She didn’t want to say goodbye just yet, but she quickly regained herself to not let her sadness show. With another small smile, she gave an understanding nod. Priscilla knew well of CeCe’s antics and how they struck at the worst times.

“Oh, well, it’s been fun talking to you. I missed this.” 

“I did too.” 

The two teens exchanged a smile. They met in the middle of the park bench for a hug. It could be argued that the hug lasted longer than it should have, but neither party would say so. It took another distress call from the Greene’s roomba to break the two apart. 

“Would you like a ride home?” Priscilla asked, car keys already in hand. 

Frankie couldn’t help but notice the friendship bracelet she had made her when they were younger tied to the metal hoop.

“Yes,” she smiled, “I would.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally an update, and we get to see Priscilla's character too. This chapter took so long to write because I completely scrapped my first version of this chapter (and also school hates me). Hopefully it won't take me this long to get chapter 5 up. 
> 
> also APUSH (pronounced "aye-push")= AP U.S. History


	5. Camping Trip Pt. 1

It was finally Friday, and though the simple fact that it was Friday would make any kid happy, this Friday in particular made the little boys of Griffin Rock the most excited because today was their first ever camping trip as Lad Pioneers. Starting just a few hours after the end of the school, these Lads will get to go into the woods and acquire their first ever badges as Pioneers. It was exciting to them, but stressful for the adults. Taking a bunch of elementary schoolers into the woods overnight and keeping them safe was no easy feat, and lots of supervision is required. That is where the big kids come in, more specifically the Teen Pioneers, who are theoretically competent and responsible enough to take on being an extra set of eyes.

“Did you know that Big Bird was supposed to be on the Challenger?” George spoke out.

The eight teens were seated together in the Pioneer’s base cabin at the mouth of the woods. It was almost quiet amongst the group due to it being nap time for half of them, but it was always in George’s nature to spark any kind of conversation. Any kind. 

“What the hell are you talking about dude?” Kyle questioned. 

“You know, the Challenger, that rocket that blew up in the 80’s? Well it was originally planned for Big Bird to be on it as publicity with Sesame Street to get little kids to watch the launch, but he was too massive to put on a rocket, so NASA just went with a science teacher instead.”

“Where are you going with this?” 

“Imagine if Big Bird did fit on the rocket, but it still had the accident. Then that would’ve meant that a whole generation of kids would have been scarred seeing Big Bird blo-” 

“Alright boys.” Their troop leader came inside the cabin and broke their conversation. “The new lad pioneers are going to be here in half an hour. As the troop assistants, you will be helping the lad pioneer troop leaders with the new lads. That includes attendance, pitching tents, assigning tents, making sure none of them wander off into the woods, and anything else in between.” 

Jimmy raised his hand. 

“Remember that they’re little kids, so no- there will be no corporal punishment.” 

Jimmy dropped his hand. 

Their troop leader sighed before continuing. “Anyways, because there’s four troops, you eight are going to be split into pairs. Corey is with Timmy, Kyle is with Billy, George is with Jimmy, and Cody is with Wes.” 

“I thought you never pair the responsible kids together.” Corey questioned. 

“Usually, but since Mike is once of the troop leaders, I needed to pair the two who would get into the least amount of trouble together, which are Cody and Wes.”

“Are you saying we’re trouble makers, James?”

James rolled his eyes. “Anyways, here are your maps, schedules, and attendance lists. Take attendance regularly so that nobody gets lost.” 

“What if-”

“You’ve been here a hundred times before, Billy, I’m sure you can find your way back to camp if you get lost. And hopefully Kyle will prevent that from ever happening.”   
  


Kyle finger-gunned Billy with a smile. 

“Well, you boys have about half an hour to yourselves. Five minutes before the lads come in check in with your troop leaders. I won’t be around to supervise you boys on this trip, so I better not get any complaints about any of you, got it?” 

“Got it.” The eight teens said in unison. 

With that, James left the boys alone in the cabin. 

“Okay, so Big Bird-” 

“Um,” Wes interrupted, “before you continue with that, I’m going to go, uh, climb a tree.” 

“Alright, but don’t think you can get away from this, Wes! It’ll haunt your mind!” George called after the redhead. 

Cody watched as Wes left the cabin. In all honesty he didn’t want to hear about Big Bird blowing up in the Challenger either, but couldn’t leave. One reason was because he didn’t want to seem rude, even if it meant having to stay and hear another one of George’s crazy hypotheticals. Another reason was because Wes  _ just _ left. It was too soon; all the other boys would question why he didn’t just leave with Wes, and if he did manage to get out the cabin, Wes would easily spot him. Plus, what if Wes just wanted his space and privacy before having to deal with rampant fifth graders? 

“Guys, guys,” Timmy addressed the group, “one thing that we’re not thinking about is how this would have affected the Sesame Street franchise. Would they use it as a way to teach kids about death? Or would they have made something up to keep Big Bird alive? Can you even explain that?” 

“Of course they’d have to keep Big Bird alive, he’s one of the most iconic characters!” Corey argued, “I mean- you can’t just replace Big Bird.”

“They can if they just make it be that Big Bird had a son.” Jimmy added. 

“Would his son’s name be Big Bird jr. or Small Bird?” Billy questioned. 

“Forget that, how the hell would Big Bird be able to have a child in the first place?” Corey asked.

“Dude, eggs. Birds lay eggs.” Kyle answered.

“But did Big Bird lay the egg?” George questioned.

“Big Bird’s a dude he couldn’t have laid it.” Jimmy spoke. 

“Then does that mean that Big Bird had a wife?” Corey added.

While the group talked about Big Bird’s possible widow and secret family, Cody snuck out from the cabin. Looking around, he couldn’t spot Wes within the vicinity. Good, he was at least far enough to not make things awkward. Content, the blond began walking on a known path into the woods. 

Cody always loved the woods of Griffin Rock. They’re peaceful and expansive, covering about half of the island and granting privacy to those who needed it. Although Cody rarely ever needed privacy, he did enjoy looking up at the towering trees above him. Usually he would go on his nature walks with Boulder and let the green bulldozer educate him on the plants and animals they come across. This would actually be the first time exploring the woods on his own, and not to be honest, it felt quite peaceful-

“Cody!” 

The blond jumped at the call of his name. He quickly scanned the area around him trying to locate the source. 

“Up here!”

The teen followed the voice up into the treetops, his eyes meeting with Wes. The green of the trees contrasted with the teen’s red hair, making him easy for Cody to spot. Even with the vast distance between them Cody could still spot the redhead’s bright smile as he looked down to him. The blond watched as Wes gracefully climbed down from his branch, landing in front of him with a somersault. 

Wes smiled at Cody before fixing his uniform. “Sorry if I scared you back-er, up there.” 

“What?” The blond was still processing the redhead’s abilities. “Oh, no, I’m fine. I guess you weren’t kidding when you said you were going to go climb a tree.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t.” The ginger laughed lightly. 

An awkward silence settled between the two pioneers. It was deafening, and Cody knew he had to say something. It had to be something casual, something two bros could converse about, something two  _ straight _ bros could converse about, but what can he say? Sick flip? I like your moves? Damn are you agile-

“Is the troop getting ready?”

“Huh?”

“For the new pioneers. Are we heading out already?” Wes asked. 

“Oh, no, I wasn’t looking for you or anything, I just came out here for some fresh air.” 

“Oh...”

“But it’s good that I found you now rather than later,” Cody quickly recovered himself, “especially with you climbing trees. Why were you climbing up so high anyways? To practice your gymnastics?”

“I just like climbing them.” Wes turned his head up towards the tree tops. “The branches are big and sturdy so they won’t break if I’m on them, and the view is pretty great up there. Plus I thought it’d be a good way of spying on the new pioneers.” 

Cody laughed. It was amusing thinking about Wes yelling at the little pioneers from the trees like an old man yelling at kids from his bedroom window. 

“Go easy on them, it’s their first trip. I bet they’re scared enough already.” 

“Scared? They’re all probably excited like crazy. Remember our first ever camping trip?” 

“Okay, I guess I wasn’t scared, but Billy sure was.”

“And hopefully we don’t get too many Billies in our troop.”

The two boys shared another laugh. 

“IT’S SHOWTIME!”

Cody and Wes snapped their attention back towards the direction of both the cabin and Corey’s voice. 

  
“We better head back.”

  
  
“Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the lack of updates I just,,, idk I started the draft for this chapter in like March I'm just a mess. I start college in the summer so most of my writing has been put towards scholarship essays and recent events have stopped me form being in the correct mood to write in. I'll get to work on my other fics because I've seen you guys checking those out and being interested (I've also started drafts for those again I'm a mess).


	6. Sleepover Pt. 1

“Are you gonna be good without me?” 

CeCe looked up to her older sister, pausing from their doll adventure. 

The two were sitting on the soft rug of the toddler’s room, playing doctor-patient together with the younger’s toys. A text from Priscilla had just popped up on the older’s phone, making her stomach flutter more than she’d like to admit. Frankie had packed her things the moment she got home from school and spent the rest of her time doing homework and watching over her baby sister. They were easy distractions from the butterflies she got, but as the clock ticked closer to six, she could no longer ignore them.

Now it was clean up time, and despite the amount of pouting the toddler did, Frankie helped CeCe place all the dolls and play set back in her pink toy chest (more hurriedly than normal). Once the wooden lid was shut, the elder sister turned to the toddler, giving her a quick hug and kiss on the forehead before getting up and leaving the room. 

Waiting for her on her freshly made bed was Frankie’s bag, packed full with the essentials needed for a sleepover. Frankie sent a quick reply to Priscilla as she slipped her bag over her shoulder. The sound of small feet echoed in the hallway. She slipped her phone into her pocket before scooping up the small toddler in the doorway and leaving her now dark room. 

“You aren’t going to be good without me, huh?” 

Reaching the final step, Frankie entered the family dining room next to the kitchen. Dr. Baranova was at the counter making what Frankie hoped to be a cup of non-caffeinated tea and not coffee. 

“You’re leaving for your sleepover?” The scientist asked, looking up at the kitchen clock.

“Yup. She’ll be here soon to pick me up.” Frankie placed CeCe down on her feet, the toddler immediately running to hug her mother. 

Dr. Baranova smiled as CeCe hugged her lower leg. “Alright, have fun. Call us if you need anything or want to come home.”

“It’s just going to be the two of us,” Frankie propped her elbows onto the kitchen island, “why would I want to come home?” 

“Well, you know, you might get anxious being there or not feel safe…” The scientist pushed her mug to the side to pick up her daughter. 

“Mom, you’re just paranoid.” 

“No, I’m just considering all of the possibilities, as a mother should. I mean, this would be the first time you’ve gone over to her house, much less stay the night.” 

Frankie sighed. She knew where her mother’s thoughts were, even if she was careful in how she phrased them. While her father didn’t have it within him to be cautious about people either than the Mayor, Anna was not the same. She had always been wary of Frankie’s friendship with Priscilla, especially after the ‘incident’. But it’s been years since, and even though Priscilla has grown to be nothing like her criminal mother, Dr. Baranova hasn’t seen the evidence herself to believe it. It frustrated Frankie to no end, even if her mother was never explicit about her feelings towards the Pynch heir.

The front doorbell broke Frankie out of her thoughts and placed a smile on her face. 

“That’s her. Bye mom, bye CeCe.” Frankie waved goodbye to her family before quickly heading to the front door before either could give their farewells. 

Just beyond the front door stood Priscilla, car keys twiddled in hand as she stared off to the view of the town below. She was still dressed in her practice uniform, slightly exhausted and annoyed from the three hour torture she was put through but still eager for what tonight will bring. 

The sound of the door opening broke her from her trace and was greeted with one of Frankie’s sweet smiles. “Hey.” 

“Hey.” Priscilla greeted back, “are you ready?” 

Frankie nodded and followed Priscilla to her car. 

“Did you just get off practice?” 

“Yeah,” the car unlocked with a flash of its headlights, “we went over time because of some people.”

The eldest Green giggled. “Was it Brittney?” 

It was always Brittney. 

The cheerleader sighed despite the surge of warmth within her. “Yes, she’s always causing problems.”

“What’d she do?” Frankie asked as she placed her bag in the backseat. 

Oh, what _didn’t_ she do? Brittney always needed to do something to mess with Priscilla, _always_. Fresh memories resurfacing, Priscilla looked out over the hill once more. The sky was beginning to shift to sweet pinks and oranges, the warm sun set low. A gentle breeze passed, cooling her head and bare arms with the rich scent of the sea. 

“She’s already ruined my afternoon, I don’t want her to ruin my evening.” She gave Frankie a small smile, which was sweetly returned. 

“Then let’s get our sleepover on!” Curls bounced excitedly into the front seat, leaving behind a blushing Priscilla. 

“We are definitely watching a movie or anime together, I promise it won’t be scary. I’ve got some movies with me you might like, and we can of course use my Netflix account. Oh! I should make you watch Castlevania, it’s an anime it’s great, though it is pretty gorey. Are you cool with that?” The eldest Green spoke enthusiastically as they passed browning trees towards the Pynch household. 

“Yeah,” Priscilla glanced with a smile to get a small glimpse of the radiant girl next to her, “I’m cool with that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey... hey ...how y'all doin'? Lol but in all seriousness sorry for my absence my classes absorbed all of my time. But now that it's break I can get this out and hopefully chapter 7 in the coming weeks (but I say this all the time so take this with a heap of salt). As always thanks for reading :)


	7. Camping Trip Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Large chunk of italics = flashback

“What’s up losers!” 

The door to the cabin was busted open by a lively Corey. His grin dropped when his loud entrance was met with silence. 

“Looks like we’re the first ones here.” Corey looked around as he walked to the lounge area and dropped his bag. “Nice.”

“I told you, I always come early.” Wes followed after his loud friend and sat onto the large, worn couch. 

“Maybe I should start coming to these camping trips with you, then.” Corey plopped himself next to Wes. “It’s pretty cool having this place to ourselves. I feel like there’s always at least five people in here.” 

The other redhead nodded as he scanned the cabin. It truly was empty- there wasn’t any camping gear from any of their friends nor did he hear any of the troop leaders working in the back rooms. 

Content with this, he stuck a pinkie out. 

“...Dude, we’re alone. You don’t have to give the signal.” 

“It’s ceremonial!”

Corey rolled his eyes and wrapped his pinkie around the other’s before reciting a memorized promise. “By the Ginger Gang code I promise not to tell of what you will say, even when my ginger hairs turn gray.”

Content, Wes pulled his pinkie away before sighing. 

“It’s about Cody.” 

“You already told me you have a crush on him.” Corey responded. 

“Yeah, and that’s the problem!” 

Corey’s brow knotted before it hit him. “OH!” His eyebrows shot up with a snap of his fingers, “you’re upset because he’s dating Frankie now.” 

Wes shot Corey a look. 

“Okay, okay,” The bolder one put his hands up in defense. “They might break up, you never know.” 

“Please, they’ve been best friends for forever, they should’ve started dating years ago. And even if they did break up -- which they won't -- he'd never like me back anyways.” 

“Hey, you don’t know that. We barely talk about who we wanna date anyways; none of us are going to talk about our sexualities.” 

“That’s because straight people don’t need to come out, Corey. I’m the only gay guy in the whole group. If they found out-”

“Which they won’t.” Corey cut off his fellow redhead. “Not before you’re ready. And if they did, none of us are going to kick you out or anything. I won’t let that happen, I promise.” He wrapped an arm around the other’s shoulders. 

Wes sighed. “I’m just so stupid for falling for a straight guy.” 

“No you aren’t. If I was gay, I’d probably like Cody too. I mean, he’s so smart and kind and a great outdoorsman and has great leadership skills and is pretty good looking, and he recently started ballet too so I bet he’s getting built-”

“Thanks I get it!” Wes interrupted him with flushed cheeks. 

“Sorry, sorry. You’ve just got good taste.” The other redhead chuckled. “But seriously, your feelings are normal and you shouldn’t be mad at them. Yeah it’d be easier if he was single and at least bi, but it’s just a crush, and crushes don’t last forever. You’ll get over him in no time.” 

Wes smiled. “Thanks, Corey. Hopefully I can distance myself from him during this trip.” 

* * *

Wes never believed that luck was on his side, but recently it seemed to be waging a war against him.

His plan to distance himself from the boy who occupied his mind more than he liked was squashed when the pairs were announced. There was nothing he could do to change them, for James was always set in his ways, and he didn’t want to seem rude to Cody. If he did, it would lead to questions he couldn’t answer, which would complicate the entire group dynamic. Instead, he went outside for fresh air and brief loneliness. If he had to spend the entire weekend side by side with his troop captain, he could at least have these few minutes alone to prepare. 

Of course, luck sucker punched him in the gut once more when the junior rescue worker came near his tree. He couldn’t help but call to him, watching golden hair shift as brown eyes moved towards him. The idea that Cody came out here to search for him made his stomach flutter, and before he knew it he was on the forest floor in front of the other teen.

Luck seemed to yield a bit once the trip began. The little lad pioneers served as an amazing distraction, what with their dangerously minimal impulse control causing Wes to swiftly swoop in before any incidents occurred. Tonight, there will be no need for the first aid kit, not on his watch. As the sun rounded its trip across the sky, the lad pioneers became easier to manage as they acquired skill after skill after skill. By the time the campfire had been lit, the little ones were tired from a day full of learning different types of knots and forest facts. At least the s’mores gave them enough energy to change before snuggling up in their sleeping bags for the night.

“Ya know, I think this is the first time that we’ve been paired up together. It’s kinda weird now that I think about it.” Wes spoke aloud as he slipped into his sleeping bag.

_ “I think Wes and I should be paired up together.” _

_ James looked up from his clipboard. “Huh?” _

_ “For the lad’s first camping trip.” Cody spoke. _

_ “Why? This is the first time as troop captain you’ve ever come to me about buddy assignments- which, by the way, are supposed to be done by you.” _

_ “On normal camping trips I don’t see much use in me picking the buddies when we all work pretty well together.” The teen shrugged. “But since this will be the lad’s first trip, I think I should take a little more care in the assignments. Plus, Mike is one of the troop leaders, right? And Mike… well, the lads will annoy him enough, I think it’d be best to pair the least troublemaking of us with him so that he doesn’t blow a fuse.” Cody explained. _

_ “So if I pair you with Wes,” James began, “you’ll handle Mike?” _

_ With a nod from the blond the man sighed with relief. “Good. Alright, you and Wes will be together this trip. What about the other boys?” _

_ “I’ll send you a list later today.” _

Cody chuckled as he put his uniform back in his bag. “Yeah, that is weird. I guess James realized that when making the pairs.” 

“Either that or because he knew we were the only ones that wouldn’t get on Mike’s nerves.” 

The blond chuckled once more. “Probably. Poor lads, Mike isn’t exactly the best troop leader to have for your first ever camping trip.”

“I don’t think today was so bad.” Wes replied as the other slipped into his own sleeping bag. “Mike didn’t make it the best trip, but I think we made it fun for them.” 

“I think they had a lot of fun today.” Cody turned to the other with a smile. “I also think we make a pretty great pair.” 

Wes returned the smile. “I think so, too.” 

A comfortable silence filled the tent, with only the sounds of the nearby stream and distant bird calls protruding in. The lantern, their only light source and object between them, shone with a bright glow that filled the whole tent, covering everything in rich yellow. Wes admired how it brought out the highlights in the blond’s hair and the kind features of his face. He was peaceful to look at, every part of him carried peace with it. In his golden hair, his soft cheeks, his warm eyes. 

Warm eyes that were OPEN and looking DIRECTLY AT HIM oh shit oh fuck oh man. 

Wes snapped his head away, heart pounding and face quickly draining of its color. The embarrassment was chilling, but the fear was freezing. Sweet widowed Mrs. Big Bird, _ why _ did he have to stare at Cody for so long? The least he could have done was at least _ pretend _ to be straight and not spill out all of his troubled gay emotions into a long ass stare. Not only did he just unintentionally out himself, but he also made it very obvious that he has a crush on the other boy. Now Cody’s going to feel weird and yeah maybe he isn’t the type to out people or cut people off but he’ll probably tell Frankie since the two are so close and dating and now he’ll not want to pair up again even though they did such a good job today together and they’ll start talking less and-

Warmth enclosed around the redhead’s chin. It was then that he was brought from his thoughts to the pair of warm brown eyes above him. Cody moved his hand to cup Wes’ cheek, aiding to progress the spread of red warmth across the other’s face. 

And it was a soft chuckle and warm smile that Wes saw before he was kissed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! Starting the year off with my longest chapter for this fic! I've been waiting to get to this chapter since I started writing fic. Also- I've just realized that my formatting for this fic isn't consistent. 
> 
> As always thanks for reading!


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